mizanation

i helped myself to a chocolate treat.

many people sew the pockets flat, so it is hard to slide your hands into the pockets. kuniyoshi-san likes to sew the pocket with a little bit of breathing room. another little detail that he likes to put in his jeans.

another detail he showed me was puckering on the pocket stitching. again, puckering is actually considered bad sewing. however, the japanese noticed puckering on some of the vintage jeans and liked it. so, kuniyoshi-san likes to add a little puckering to the pocket stitching...

back when he used to work in a factory in okayama, he worked with a bunch of older women who had been sewing for decades. they would get pissed off at him when he would use only one foot on the sewing treadle. the old ladies would say that only amateurs use one foot.

real professionals always use both feet, they would say.

pocket bag.

sewing...

testing the stitch. he has to adjust the tension so that both the top stitch and bottom stitch are even.

see how with the first stitch, you can see the thread from the other side popping through? the bottom stitch is much better.

bobbin

bobbin case

thread

he wanted to show me a little detail on the coin pocket.

japanese denim enthusiasts would notice that sometimes the selvage would peek out on the sides of the coin pocket. back in the day, this was considered a manufacturing flaw that was a sign of hastily made jeans. however, the japanese denim heads thought it was kinda cool, so kuniyoshi-san always makes the selvage peek out a little.

next, pressing the pieces before sewing.

the water tank for the iron looks dirty, but there is some chemical in there that keeps microbes from growing in the water.

cutting:

left-over cuttings. he uses these to test his sewing machine to make sure they are stitching evenly.

making marks so he can later cut the area for the hidden pocket rivets.

next, arranging the pattern pieces onto the denim...

after that, outlining the pieces...

compare this denim to another type of denim which has both a looser warp weave and a looser weft weave:

you can see that the fabric has undulations and is kinda wavy.

now, here is the first denim and you can see that it is much flatter:

i asked him to tell me more about the denim.

he says that it's a repro of some vintage cone mills double x denim. he says that japanese denim factories over the years have analyzed various fabrics to measure things like the yarn thickness, the weave, etc. they check to see if the yarn thickness is consistent or if it varies, they will see how long the fibers of the yarn are, etc.... then, after they have the data, they try to create a denim that comes close to the original. however, he says that there are a couple modifications made on this fabric. there are more weft (horizontal) threads to make a tighter weave. also, the indigo dye is extra dark.

close up:

he picked out the appropriate pieces of pattern.

luckily, he had another pair he had to cut that day. so, he said i could take pictures of him cutting up and sewing this pair.

first, he unrolled the denim:

he had already cut the denim for my jeans, which was a little disappointing cuz i wanted to take pics of him cutting.

these are all the pieces laid out:

so, this afternoon, i went over to kuniyoshi-san's workshop, nestled in the back streets of koza city, okinawa.

he left his trusty redwings outside the door.

btw, he will be in next month's lightning magazine, showcasing his vintage t-shirt collection.

nice warm welcome:

cool man! it is quite unique that an atelier only makes 1 pair for someone..

does kuniyoshi have big clients? or does he only produce private label/own brand?

kuniyoshi-san does have his own brand, but a lot of his work is making jeans for other brands. also, he does quite a lot of custom work for individual denim enthusiasts.

demonito--yeah, he can make you a pair. let me know what you want and we can make it happen.

tomorrow, i will head to kuniyoshi-san's workshop and take pictures.

Second that motion.

Miz, as ever, you are cool.

RINGRING! man, it's so good to see you! things are good over here in japan. hope everything is going well for you, brother.

it actually didn't occur to me to take pictures of the process, but now i will.

havent had new jeans for about 2 years now... waiting for evisu

nothing to be done....

miz — glad to have you posting again. Aren't you getting a free pair of Evisus, though?

Not planning on getting anything yet, just curious, does this guy handle denim jackets as well?

Don't know if this goes without saying, but — are you chainstitching the hem?

As for pocket designs — try your hand at designing a stylized trumpet.

whatsup man. yeah, it's good to be back...

i *am* supposed to be getting a free pair of evisu's but i'm not sure when they will arrive and i NEED a new pair now....

kuniyoshi-san can make anything that is made out of denim--he makes denim jeans, jackets, hats, anything.... i'm actually gonna have him make a denim jacket next.

hmmm. a music-themed pocket design. very good..... let me marinade on that one...

are you breaking in a new pair of jeans? or waiting for the pair from evisu?